The Complete History of the WWE Championship - Part 21

Kofi Kingston (April 7, 2019 - October 4, 2019)

Kofi Kingston: Finally won the big one at WrestleMania 35

Kofi Kingston became the first African born WWE Champion in the company's 56-year history at WrestleMania 35 when he defeated WWE Champion, Daniel Bryan to lift the strap for the first time.

Kingston was not the original choice for the 'Mania spot. That was supposed to go to Kevin Owens, who had newly returned from injury. Kingston was meant to be a filler challenger for Bryan earlier in 'Mania season.

However, after Kingston outshined Owens on SmackDown and was visibly the more popular of the two performers. The New Day member got the nod for the WrestleMania title match instead and dethroned Bryan in an instant classic, which was by far the best thing on the 'Mania card.

From there, it was reasonable to expect that Kingston would quietly distance himself from his New Day brothers, update his ring gear and wrestle as a serious headliner. That did not happen and as such, the WWE Heavyweight strap felt like a mid-card belt in Kingston's possession.

Kingston's title defences against Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe and Randy Orton were all well worth the effort but the belt did not elevate him and he did not improve the worth of the championship either.

It was numbingly predictable that Kingston would drop the belt to Brock Lesnar as soon as that bout was announced. However, what was surprising was that the match lasted a paltry nine seconds.

That contest encapsulated Kingston's title reign in a nutshell.

Kingston has dropped out of title contention completely. Don't expect the talented Ghanaian to regain the gold again in future unless there is a change in his persona.